Few people would believe that the delicious looking lemon and almond cake pictured opposite was ‘grown’ in the vivid yellow fields which can be seen across Lincolnshire. With its conventional fats replaced with rapeseed oil, it’s homegrown, and considerably healthier than a cake that’s produced with butter or margarine.

The Next Big Thing for Lincolnshire Food and Farming

Using cold pressed rapeseed oil is the next big thing for foodies, both professional and domestic. It’s hardly the most glamorous ingredient, but already, celebrity chefs such as Market Rasen based Rachel Green have begun to champion the product, and domestic consumers will soon begin to use the product, rather than premium olive oils or other fats, in their daily cooking.

Home Grown, High Quality

A crop that’s generally taken for granted in the county, over 575,000 hectares of the crop is grown each year. 22% is used for biofuel, 13% as setaside, but 65% is used in food production.

Predominantly, its oil is blended with other oils — like blended whiskies, vin du table or mass produced tea — but Redhill-based Oleifera, made from plants grown across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, is now producing a single crop oil — the equivalent of single malt whisky, wine appellation or single estate teas.

The Difference

Conventionally rapeseed oil is produced from seeds from different varieties that are crushed at high temperature, with solvents used to remove every last drop of oil from the seed.

The oil is distilled to remove the solvent, bleached to remove the colour, then treated with a mix of chemicals to remove the flavour and odour.

The result is oil that is indistinguishable from any other; an oil with none of the character of natural, pure rapeseed oil. The alternative to refined rapeseed oil is cold pressed oil, which is produced by gently pressing rapeseed at room temperature.

Companies like Oleifera cold press their oil, with no chemicals or heat used in the extraction process. It is simply pressed then filtered, bottled, labelled and packaged on site.

The Healthy Option

The result of this single-rapeseed crop cold pressed oil is a product that’s even healthier than olive oil. Cold pressed rapeseed oil has just 6% saturated fat — olive oils have around 14%, sunflower oils around 10%— the fat which contributed to heart disease, diabetes and obesity, as well as high levels of Omega 3, 6, and 9.

In terms of use, the cold pressed rapeseed oil can replace olive oils, vegetable oils, butter and margarine in cooking and other fats.

Healthier, purer and homegrown in Lincolnshire, it’s also environmentally friendly both in terms of food miles and because the waste products from the process are recycled as biofuel briquettes.

For a product that’s — at the least inconspicuous and — at very most — mundane, something really quite revolutionary is happening in the world of premium oils for serious cooks. Predictably, Lincolnshire’s dedicated farmers are championing the product and are right at the forefront of production. Thanks to pioneers like Oleifera, you’ll never underestimate the humble rapeseed field again!

For more on Lincolnshire food and farming, pick up the latest edition of Lincolnshire Pride Magazine — available in shops now!